Archive for the 'Federal Spending' Tag Under 'OC Watchdog' Category

The Kings County Board of Supervisors has thrown an obstacle in the path of high-speed rail. It's asking the Federal Railroad Administration to refuse to approve the environmental impact statement for construction of the huge project's first phase.

"As our government teeters on the brink of a shutdown, and Congress and the president haggle over spending cuts, the Pentagon budget should be scoured for places where significant reductions may be made," wrote John Arquilla. a professor of defense analysis. "Not the handful of trims alluded to by Defense Secretary Robert Gates — $78 billion over the next five years, with these savings simply used to shore up spending on other acquisitions — but major cuts to systems that don't work very well or that are not really going to be needed for decades to come."

Example: The Littoral Combat Ship, a shallow-draft, catamaran-hulled vessel intended to fight in coastal waters -- but with an aluminum superstructure that will burn to the waterline if hit. Cost: About $30 billion.

Arquilla also lists the Ballistic Missile Defense system, the Ford-Class Supercarrier, the F-35 Lightning II -- "and there's plenty more where these came from," he wrote.

In these parts, retired (and colorful) Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray has long been the face of law-enforcement types declaring the unthinkable: The the drug war has failed. Let's admit it, move on, find a better way -- and save a ton of money in the process.

Onto this rebellious backdrop comes a national petition by the Fearless Campaign, "to keep pressure on policymakers to re-evaluate our broken drug policy and eliminate unnecessary programs that are ineffective and burdening taxpayers."

Last week, Congressmen (and characters) Jared Polis (D-CO) and Ron Paul (R-TX) proposed an amendment to H.R. 1 (the bill to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year) which would slash funding for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Coburn's “Wastebook 2010" -- a blistering, 85-page romp through oddities in the federal budget -- lambastes everything from the $1 million spent to put poems in zoos to nearly $1 billion wasted when federal workers hit the "print" button when they don't need to. (See more from the report here.)

"As you look at these examples, ask yourself: at a time when we are borrowing over $44,000 for every person in the country, are these items a priority and are they a federal responsibility?" the report asks.

On his list of 100 projects that squandered more than $11.5 billion, "Studying World of Warcraft and Other Virtual Games" weighed in at No. 6.

Walt Scacchi (right), UCI senior research scientist at the Institute for Software Research, research director at the Center for Computer Games and Virtual Worlds, and principal investigator on the three year, $3 million NSF grant, said being included on Coburn's "waste" list is “a sign of distinction and a compliment. They absolutely don't get what we're doing, whereas anybody who works in the field gets what we're doing.”

Here's the full statement from UCI in response to Coburn's slam:

Scacchi said computer games and virtual worlds were the new media for the 21st century, in the same way that cinema and the World Wide Web were transformative 20th century media. He said UCI is on the forefront of what may be the biggest engine of innovation in the next decade, whether it involves education, manufacturing, healthcare or homeland security.

“Computer games and virtual worlds will be fundamental to large-scale cultural transformation in next decade and beyond, and industry, government and academia will all come to depend on the development and routine use of computer games and virtual worlds.” he said.

"Did you ever wonder where the flashy and colorful signs in Las Vegas go when they die?" the report asks. "The city of Las Vegas has received a $5.2 million federal grant to build the Neon Boneyard Park and Museum, including $1.8 million in 2010. Over the last decade, Museum supporters have gathered and displayed over 150 old Las Vegas neon signs, such as those from the Golden Nugget and Silver Slipper casinos."

When the incoming Republican governors in Wisconsin and Ohio turned their noses up at high-speed rail projects -- and the federal money that went with them -- the feds yanked back $1.2 billion and decided to give it to folks who'd truly appreciate it.

That includes us in the Golden State, who will get an the fattest slice of the castoff pie -- $624 million. (Florida will get $342 million; Washington, $161 million; and Illinois, $42 million. New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, North Carolina, Iowa and Indiana get some crumbs, too.)

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that high-speed trains will not only improve transportation but reinvigorate manufacturing and put people back to work in jobs that pay well.

This brings the total federal funds that California has received for high-speed rail to $3.1 billion. “This is yet another vote of confidence that California's project is on the right track toward creating tens of thousands of jobs for our state and constructing the nation's first true high-speed rail system,” said Roelof van Ark, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, in a prepared statement.

California's high-speed rail line will begin construction in the Central Valley, not Orange County.

The board of the California High Speed Rail Authority made it official Thursday when it approved a staff recommendation to build the initial $4.15 billion, 65-mile segment between Madera, which is north of Fresno, and Corcoran, north of Bakersfield.

We told you how the U.S. Department of Agriculture paid $245.2 billion in farm subsidies between 1995 and 2009, and how California came in No. 9 on the list of states where farmers get the most subsidies at $9.1 billion, and how $8 million of that went to farms right here in Orange County.

There's been lots of debate over agricultural subsidies. What do you think?

The Watchdog endeavors to keep a critical eye on those holding the public trust, and how they spend the public's money. We ask, How much does it cost? Is that the right thing to do? How might we do it better? We bring a consumer-oriented approach to the machinations of local governments, businesses and non-profits, and try to navigate the sometimes turbulent waters of bureacracy for readers caught in whirlpools of red tape. Send tips and other email to watchdog@ocregister.com